Mid-Shore Food: Uno Más Comes to Centreville

Centreville’s newest addition to the local culinary scene, a Mexican restaurant called Uno Más, has opened to an enthusiastic reception and strong reviews, and co-owners Billy and Brittany Gordon, along with partners Nelson Araujo and Araceli Reyes Ventura, are excited to establish their latest venture as one of the area’s favorite options for dining out.

All four of the partners have years of experience in the hospitality industry and have worked in various styles of cuisine and food service. In March 2020, at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, the Gordons had just taken over the operations at Mama Mia’s Italian Bistro on Centreville’s Water Street. Despite the challenges of the timing, Mama Mia’s has survived and expanded and continues to serve happy customers in both the dining room and sports bar where they serve Italian dishes and American pub fare.

When the businesses across the street from Mama Mia’s closed last year, the partners saw opportunity but were practical and strategic in their decision making. Billy Gordon says they “looked at Centreville and really thought about what might best serve the town, what was needed. We wanted to provide people with something different than what was already here, to provide an alternative.”

They landed on “authentic Mexican cuisine served in a contemporary style,” but before a single enchilada could be plated or chimichanga chewed there was work to be done. “We basically took over two existing restaurants,” Billy says, “and blended them into one. We knocked down a wall, made a hallway, reconfigured the layout; made better use of the space and created some outdoor seating and lounging area on our patio.” Graphic designers helped with the Uno Más décor.

The four principals created the menu together and in doing so have tried to stay true to their self-imposed mandate to provide diners with food that is fresh, flavorful, and true to tradition. The kitchen staff aims to cook with the freshest and most authentic ingredients possible and as an example, the jalapenos they use are sourced from Mexico. Most of the recipes that the chefs, Araujo and Reyes, utilize have been in their families for generations.

Appetizers include handmade birria eggrolls, crispy corn on the cob curls, and Mexican Rockets – jalapeños halves stuffed with cheese and wrapped in jalapeño bacon.  Popular entrees include classic fajitas, burritos, and street-style tacos, all of which are offered in variations of proteins and accompaniments, but there are also such unconventional offerings as huevos rancheros ribeye and a grilled salmon with a house-made chimichurri sauce.

The torta sandwiches are another big hit on the Uno Más menu and represent the management’s commitment to authenticity and freshness. The two offerings, the Torta Mexicana – filled with chorizo, carne asada, sliced ham, lettuce, tomato, avocado, Oaxaca cheese, chipotle aioli, and pickled jalapeños – and the Torta Milanesa, which features a hand-breaded fried chicken breast and refried beans with the avocado, cheese, aioli, and jalapeños are made on telera bread that is baked exclusively for Uno Más by Modern Stone Age Kitchen (@modernstoneagekitchen), the unique from-scratch restaurant and bakery located in Chestertown.

Holly Rhodes, a longtime patron of the Gordons who works in finance, says Uno Más rates “ten out of ten.” She says the food and drinks were among the very best Mexican fare she’s ever had and she can’t wait to return. Realtor Scott Saunders raves about the guacamole and the corn ribs and says the chicken enchiladas with mole were delicious, too. A lifelong Eastern Shore resident and no stranger to the food service business herself, Nicole Potter Jordan thinks the new restaurant was just what Centreville needed. She says that she and her husband ordered tacos and they “love, love, loved” everything about their meal including the margaritas that she says are “the best around by far.”

Soon after Centreville’s newest restaurant opened, Katie Harris Manley, a retail manager, went to Uno Más with friends for a Girls Night Out. Her review? “Outstanding.”

Katie says: “We had the ahi tuna tostada’s, birria egg rolls, and homemade guacamole for starters. I got the fajita-tacos for dinner. We each got the pineapple coconut margarita and I also got the El Diablo. We tried every dessert: the fried ice cream, churro ice cream sandwich, and the caramel mascarpone cheesecake. Everything was seriously amazing. The staff was awesome and so was the atmosphere.”

Katie recently returned. She says, “I made a reservation for eleven people for my daughter and husband’s birthdays and everything was still wonderful. Food and drinks were stellar and the service was great. My family had not eaten there yet and by the time we left they were asking whose birthday we were going to return for.”

Uno Más is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. There are lunch specials and weekday Happy Hours, live music in the bar from 6-9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the kitchen is open until nine except for Friday and Saturday when they serve until ten. The regular weekly calendar includes discount opportunities for Margarita Mondays, Tacos Tuesday, Wednesday’s Fajita Night and Ladies Night in the bar on Thursdays.   

Uno Más is located at 420 Pennsylvania Avenue in Centreville and can be contacted at [email protected] or 443-262-8777. Their website is https://www.unomascentreville.com/

Brent Lewis is a native Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shoreman. He has published two nonfiction books about the region, “Remembering Kent Island: Stories from the Chesapeake” and a “History of the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department.” His most recent book, “Stardust By The Bushel: Hollywood On The Chesapeake Bay’s Eastern Shore”won a 2023 Independent Publishers award. His first novel, Bloody Point 1976, won an Honorable Mention Award at the 2015 Hollywood Book Festival. He and his wife Peggy live in Centreville, Maryland.